Finally, some measure of misery! Now I am starting to feel more comfortable here. The Sox are humming along rather nicely despite their injuries whilst the two teams from Gotham are starting to inch their way back up the standings of their respective divisions. Meanwhile, at the southernmost tip of the Commonwealth of Misery, the Phillies are doing their best to make sure no one will count them among baseball's elite teams given their woeful effort these last four series.

In case you don't avidly follow Phillies baseball, the lads were 1 and 2 vs the Marlins, 1 and 2 vs. the Cards, 1 and 2 vs. the Sox (red variety) and 0 and 3 vs. the Angels. That's making a statement alright.

The lineup has gone into hibernation. Utley is in a 1 for 27 funk which is by far his career worst. This offensive "juggernaut" continues to be feast or famine. They are second in runs scored with 398 but remarkably they also have played 30 games in which they scored 3 runs or fewer.

One thing is for certain, they need a fundamentally different approach to hitting should they make it to the postseason. To date, I haven't seen any evidence from them that they even understand the problem "begging the question, what are these boys thinking about, 'cause it sure ain't baseball!"

Misery Loves Company

First two, and now four avid baseball fans torture themselves by closely observing their favorite major league squads. Follow along as the Red Sox, Yankees, Mets and Phillies inflict pain and suffering on a daily basis, soothed only by great beer and rock 'n' roll. (The pain and suffering has been doled out in largely disproportionate measure since 2004.)